There is just no way that you can really experience a rainforest without
stepping into one. No photograph, film, movie, or book can truly do it
justice. The power, majesty, energy, and feeling of a primeval rainforest
is incredible yet indescribable. None of the pictures or videos I've taken
in my jungle jaunts even come close to capturing it. I can only take solace
in knowing that I am not alone in my frustration in trying to record its
mystery and beauty for those that will never have the chance to experience
it first hand.

The first thing that hits you when you step into the rainforest is the
air. It's so heavy with oxygen and humidity that it is almost a tangible
thing which just kind of envelops you. There is a heavy, rich stillness
to it... because in the heart of a primary rainforest little to no wind
really makes in down below the unbroken green canopy of trees above you.
The clean oxygen-filled air and the sheer magnitude of living things all
around you sort of energizes you somehow. The vibrancy of life you feel
flowing around you and through you resonates. It's really hard to describe...
but its like all of earth's core elements are there in an abundance that
you've never experienced before that it can excite, overwhelm and energize
you all at once. In some places, the air stays so heavy with moisture that
there is an almost perpetual cloudy fog which envelopes and muffles everything
around you and earns the name as a "Cloud Forest."

And yes, the
jungle can be hot to some (but us Texans don't really think so!). It can
be 100 degrees or a bit more above the canopy where the sun is shining...
but 200 feet below, surrounded by dappled shades of every color of green
you could possibly imagine, less than 10 percent of the sunlight filters
down to the forest floor and it rarely rises above about 80 degrees.

The next thing that hits you is the sheer immensity of the trees and
the incredible amount of different types of vegetation that surrounds you.
It's an amazing display of Nature in her most flamboyant expression of
life. Literally everything around you is in flux - in some state of living,
breathing, growing, decaying and dying. You can actually watch some of
the plants growing with a naked eye, and huge fallen trees that would take
years to return to the earth in a temperate forest are reduced to compost
in a month or two. Trees the size of skyscrapers, leaves the size of umbrellas
and vines with incredible sizes and shapes seemingly knitting everything
together... plants growing out vines which are growing up on trees covered
with other plants.... it can be overwhelming to take it all in. Even if
you've trekked a lot of forests, you are still caught off guard by the
amazing diversity of different plants in a rainforest.

A really good diverse
forest in the US has about 12-15 different species of trees in an acre.
In the Amazon Rainforest, a single acre of jungle will have about 300 different
species of trees and another 300 to 400 species of higher plants... every
where you look - you see something new, different and amazing. I think
the main problem in trying to capture this on film is perspective. What
angle lense do you use to take a picture of a 12 story tree without losing
definition, much less one that is surrounded by hundreds of other 12 story
trees intermingled with literally hundreds of other species of trees, vines,
shrubs and bushes? Even when you try to pan up with a video camera, you
still lose the perspective... Not to even mention the lighting problems
of shades, shadows and dappled darkness which mute the incredible hues
of green!

I will continue to add to this page as time permits and focus more on
what my trips into the Amazon are like. I am fortunate to be able to experience
and explore the Amazon and its native cultures that the tourist never sees.
Maybe I'll write a series of short stories about some of my more memorable
adventures as everyone keeps telling me I should.

"How NOT to Forget Where You Parked the Boat" and "Three
Days IN the River Without a Boat to be Had" and "Ninety-Six Leeches
on your White Shriveled Body Ain't a Pretty Sight" (sheesh, was that ever a long three days!)

"How to
Avoid Permanent Tatoos and Body Piercings and Still Be Politically Correct with a Shaman"

"Those are NOT Rapids Dammit... That's a Waterfallllllllllllll !!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Giant Bats and Things That Go Bump In the Night and Where NOT to
Hang Your Hammock in the Jungle at Night" (Hint: Bat's like fruit trees... Duh!)

"Don't Worry... its JUST Leprosy" and... "That's Not a Prostate Infection, A River Water-Demon Climbed into Me When I Wasn't Looking" and...
"What Do Ya Mean I Been 'Kissed By a Rainbow' - My feet are as big as Watermelons!!" OR... "Medical Diagnostic & Treatment Differences between Jungle Shamans and White Witches"

"The Jungle Rollercoaster... Ropes & Pulleys, Canopy Walkways,
Native Climbing Techniques - How to Get to the Top of the Canopy"

or more importantly (and following closely)... how to get back down:

"Me Falling 5 Stories Out of a Tree Should NOT Make You Laugh So Hard
You Fall Down, Dammit - The Indignities of Tribal Humor"

If you are a school student that stumbled onto my website searching for rainforest information for a school report assignment, check out the page I created at my company website for help with school reports.

Lastly... here are some pictures of my favorite jungle animals!

Thanks for Dropping By!

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